The Miniaturist is published by Picador (£7.99). This, combined with a racy plot, makes The Miniaturist read like Downton Abbey as told by Hilary Mantel. This would be a shame, as Burton is evidently a talented writer of precise and exquisitely (sometimes too exquisitely) wrought prose.

For the sensitive reader, this may be where the suspension of disbelief breaks down. When Johannes is discovered by Nella in the throes of passion with his lover, the unexpected thing is how remarkably worldly Nella is, considering her age and background. Burton uses sugar as a metaphor for the repressed greed and hypocrisy of Amsterdam the shades of modern London also can’t be ignored. 26, 2014 A talented new writer of historical fiction evokes 17th-century Amsterdam, the opulent but dangerous Dutch capital, where an innocent young wife must navigate the intrigues of her new household. Because of the city-wide ban on sugar, he hoards sugar loaves belonging to some complicated clients in a damp warehouse, a key part in his downfall. THE MINIATURIST by Jessie Burton RELEASE DATE: Aug. Nella commissions a mysterious miniaturist, whose parcels contain finely crafted items – some unasked for – and dolls that reflect and sometimes predict the events in Nella’s increasingly bizarre life.Ī dealer in sugar and spice, Johannes in fact prefers potatoes. It is the very image of the house in which she lives, stuffed with oil paintings, rich textiles and objets d’art. To amuse and divert Nella, Johannes presents her with an exquisitely made doll’s house, to furnish as she wishes. Nella can’t get near him and their marriage looks set never to be consummated. Johannes is absent, and when he isn’t, he’s elusive. It was published by Picador in the UK and Holland in July 2014, and the USA in August 2014, with other translations to follow. The house is staffed by orphan Cornelia and former slave Otto Nella has never before seen a man of such dark skin. In April 2013 her first novel, The Miniaturist, was sold at an 11-publisher auction at the London Book Fair, and went on to sell in 29 other countries around the world.

She eats one herring for breakfast, publicly, and scoffs candied walnuts in private. The household into which Nella (and her pet, a caged green parakeet by the name of Peebo) arrives is run by Marin, Johannes’s prickly spinster sister.

The miniaturist book